QandO

It doesn't tell us anything we didn't already know, though. We already knew that there were a few models of typewriters that could do superscript. They were all high-end typewriters, though, and so I doubt they were widely used in government service except in printing offices.

Posted by: Dale Franks at September 10, 2004 03:45 PM

They have to prove that a typewriter that could make ths superscripts AND kerning, that had that proportional typeface was in existance- AND used by the military at that time.

They also need to explain the letterhead, and the mismatching signatures.

And THEN they need to explain the statements of the family and rebut the opinions of various experts who've weighed in.

If they do THAT....

But they won't. MARK MY WORDS: They're gonna try a quick one here. They'll probably address 1 issue- the "th" and declare the matter closed, even though they'll pass up an assload of questions that need to be addressed.

Posted by: shark at September 10, 2004 04:02 PM

Yeah, I expect that's what they'll do, too. I'm interested to see where the superscript came from they're touting, though. I'd like to know if it's an actual superscript, or just someone clicking the roller up half a line, then going back down to the original baseline.

I think they'll hit the superscript and ignore everything else, and hope that if they kill the superscript argument, everything else will die, too.

But, you know, it's hard for anyone under 30 to even remember typewriters, much less have any experience with them. So the superscript thing won't be a big deal for a lot of the audience.

I wonder if they'll tell us what key on the typewriter produces that superscript "th", though.

Posted by: Dale Franks at September 10, 2004 04:08 PM

Tried to find the released document that has the superscript "th." The only one that has it is title Military Biography of George W. Bush, which is undated. I found it here (on a decidedly anti-Bush site)

http://www.awolbush.com/kerry-vs-bush.asp

This looks like a formal summary of service and thus could have been generated on a more expensive system.

Significantly, all the other documents do not superscript "th" anywhere and they all visually appear to have been typed.

By the way, has Kos or any other Bush critic tried to replicate LGF and others superimposition of the CBS documents with Word files but using authentic files released by Bush? If that isn't possible, it's one more nail in the CBS coffin.

Posted by: Hacksaw at September 10, 2004 04:17 PM

No addressing of the Kerning issue, no addressing of the proportional fonts.

Then they trot out the talking heads who agree with them to do it again.

And oh, by the way, all you photo copy and fax people need to stop because the handwriting expert says you don't know what you're doing.

Anyone here have a faxed copy? No, thought not.
Well, not totally true, because -
their (CBS's) document copy is a FAXED copy itself. Ain't that nice - so they don't even have the originals.

Posted by: looker at September 10, 2004 05:42 PM

Interesting to note that the expert CBS used to verify the documents is Marcel Matley, he is a handwriting expert. Verified the signature only not the typeface. Here's his bio:

Marcel Matley studied handwriting analysis with Rose Toomey and was certified by the Paul de Ste. Colombe Center. In 1985 he became a full time professional document examiner and has other interests in medical and psychological research, paleography, education, Western formal penmanship and Oriental calligraphy. He is the author of several published monographs and articles, taught private classes and seminars, and presented at conferences. The American Handwriting Analysts Foundation’s library, as well as a collection of more than 4,000 forensics and handwriting articles, is located in his home in San Francisco where it is available for reference by appointment.

Posted by: Frank Reyes at September 10, 2004 08:03 PM